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Radio Scripts

Package 77
March 2006

The Long Dry Season: A Tale of Greed and Resourcefulness

Package 77 - Table of Contents

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Episode 10

CAST

1.MUSIC:THEME MUSIC UP AND UNDER OPENING ANNOUNCEMENTS, UP, AND UNDER...
2.NARRATOR:Friends, welcome to our ongoing drama of life in Mabudi. Last time we checked, things were slowly coming to a head. Confrontation on all sides. And you guessed it - Moleke is at the centre of it all. Like his thinking he can force Zara to marry THE ABAH! Some people have such a high opinion of their power...

Interestingly, many other communities want to find better ways to manage their land in the face of increasing drought and soil degradation. There's even talk of a summit or a meeting of all the communities in the region to form a joint action plan against desertification. So there's hope. We only hope that Mabudi will join its neighbours in this noble venture...Let's wait and see what happens.
3.MUSIC:THEME MUSIC FADES UP, HOLDS AND CUTS TO...

SCENE 1

4.SFX:IN THE ABAH'S PALACE. PALACE NOISES.
5.ABAH:Shurahi, I sent for you so that we can discuss a letter I received from the State Ministry of Agriculture. They have invited Mabudi to a summit to discuss joint efforts by all the communities in the region to combat desertification.
6.SHURAHI:This is a serious matter, Abah. All over the world people are worried about the speed at which once fertile land is being degraded.
7.ABAH:I have nominated credible people like the High Chief Moleke, my dear wife and foremost lady Babi, my son the Prince Bala and Jauro, a respected elder. I will personally lead this powerful team.
8.SHURAHI: I was hoping that you would invite another woman and another young person to properly represent all the groups in the community. I also think Yohanna should be part of it.
9.ABAH:(GREATLY ENRAGED) Yoha... who?
10.SHURAHI:Baba Yohan...
11.ABAH:(CUTTING HER SHORT). Shut up! (SILENCE) I am talking about progressive souls who know what is good for the community. And you are mentioning a shameless and unproductive nonentity like Yohanna.
12.SHURAHI:I am sorry, your Highness. I only thought ...
13.ABAH:Don't "only thought" anything! Yohanna? Never! That ingrate old fool who never sees any good in anything I do? Never! He should not even be allowed to represent his family.
14.MUSIC:BRIDGE MUSIC UP AND FADE UNDER...

SCENE 2

Yohanna's house
15.SFX:HURRIED FOOTSTEPS COMING ON. HEAVY SACKS THROWN DOWN.
16.ZARA:(ON) Garam, the mobile supermarket ... you are back?
17.GARAM:(OFF) Zara! (TEASING) I hope this means you are happy to see me. (LAUGHS) Anyway, how is life these days?
18.ZARA:I am fine, Garam.
19.GARAM:I know you are fine. Even the blind can see you are fine.
20.ZARA:Don't start any of your jokes today.
21.GARAM:Come on Zara, are you angry with me?
22.ZARA:Look Garam, I don't have time today. And besides, your wonderful and dependable customer Choliba is not here.
23.GARAM:Where did she go to again? She said I should come here first before any other customers see my latest items.
24.ZARA:Well, Choliba has left.
25.GARAM:What do you mean she has left? (SILENCE) But why?
26.ZARA:She said everybody in Mabudi was making a lot of money and buying very expensive items from you, except my father Yohanna. (SILENCE) Well, mobile supermarket, I blame you for that. The way you dangle your fine products round can make people like Choliba divorce their husbands.
27.GARAM: No no no ... I think it had to do with Choliba as a person. As I move from house to house with my products, I know those who want to run before they crawl. (THEY LAUGH)
28.ZARA:Mobile supermarket.
29.GARAM:That's me, Zara. Anyway, Zara, I brought a few presents for you. The moment I saw this scarf nobody else but Zara flashed into my mind. This perfume is as exclusive and as intriguing as Zara. It is also for you.
30.ZARA:Garam, I don't understand this.
31.GARAM:You don't need to understand, Zara. All you need to do is to accept the gifts.
32.ZARA:But why all these, Garam?
33.GARAM:(SILENCE). Well Zara, I have always liked you a lot and I hope you will one day accept me as a friend.
34.ZARA:(LAUGHING) A friend? A man and a lady, being friends?
35.GARAM:I don't mind a deeper relationship if you do not approve of ordinary friendship between us.
36.ZARA:(SHYLY) What does that mean?
37.GARAM:You see Zara, in my travels all over the country I have never met anyone I feel such a deep and genuine emotion for like you.
38.ZARA:(LAUGHING). Garam, go and say that to the winds.
39.GARAM:(SOUNDING FIRM). I am very serious, Zara.
40.ZARA:How can I be sure you will not find some lady elsewhere and like her better? I'm sure you tell all the girls the same thing.
41.GARAM:No no no no Zara, look at me. I will not lie to you. I love you. For a very long time I have loved you. Didn't you know?
42.MUSIC:BRIDGE MUSIC UP AND CROSS FADE TO...

SCENES 3 AND 4

The Great Summit. In a Hall.
43.SFX:SEVERAL FOOTSTEPS. SHUFFLING CHAIRS AND TABLES AS PEOPLE COME INTO THE HALL. PLEASANTRIES AND EXCITEMENT BOTH ON AND OFF-MIC. FOOTSTEPS.
44.ZEB:(SPEAKING LOUDLY) Ladies and gentlemen, let us settle down and finally kick-start this all-important summit.
45. VOICES:(OFF MIC) Great! You are welcome. Oh yes, I knew you would be here. Welcome.
46.ZEB:While we await the arrival of delegates from other communities, I want to welcome you all. (OFF MIC RESPONSE). Before we proceed, I would like to introduce myself to those who may not know me. I am MR. ZEB, the agricultural officer and extension worker at Jantale. (RESPONSE AGAIN) This convention was initiated by the Jantale Farmers' Forum and myself, supported by the Ministry of Agriculture and all the communities represented here.
47.VOICES:(OFF MIC). We thank you for such a wonderful idea. We have already discussed these matters and are taking steps. The convention allows us to exchange information and speed up our solutions.
48.ZEB:We welcome delegates from Gongoni.
49.VOICES:(OFF MIC). Thank you. Thank you.
50.ZEB:Delegates from Tontala, you are welcome.
51.VOICES:(OFF MIC). Thank you. Thank you very much.
52.ZEB:We welcome also our delegates from Jantale.
53.VOICES:(LOUD NOISE) Yeah!
54.ZEB:(LAUGHING). That noise is expected because I am with the delegation from Jantale. (RESPONSE) I can also see delegates from Dantani. You are welcome.
55.VOICES:Thank you very much. You are welcome too.
56.ZEB:Delegates from Nambata, welcome.
57.VOICES:Thank you. Thank you.
58.ZEB:Any moment from now, delegates from Mabudi will come.
59.SFX:FOOTSTEPS AS PEOPLE COME IN.
60.ZEB:Wonderful. This is great. Behold the delegates from Mabudi led by THE ABAH MANU himself (LOUD NOISE BY DELEGATES AS THEY WELCOME THEM). Delegates from Mabudi, we welcome you all.
61.VOICES: Thank you. Thank you. (PLEASANTRIES.)
62.ZEB:The summit is well attended; we have delegates from most of the communities around here. As more come, we shall welcome them.
63.SFX:FOOTSTEPS AND EXCITEMENT.
64.ZEB:Wonderful. Delegates from Zamto, you are welcome.
65.VOICES:(OFF MIC). Thank you. Thank you. Thank you all.
66.ZEB:As I said before, we are all here today to rub minds, exchange ideas and strategize how to combat our common enemy called desertification. We shall be focused, purposeful and as free as possible in speaking our minds. Yes, yes, I can see Koi-koi wants to speak straight away. After him we shall listen to others. Yes, Koi-koi.
67.KOI -KOI:Fellow delegates, the time for action is now. (RESPONSE). When I was a child, the desert was so far away from us, it was spoken of as a folk tale. We enjoyed our thick forests and wonderful vegetation. Today the story is the opposite.
68.VOICES:(OFF MIC). You are correct. That is true. Speak on.
69.KOI-KOI:What do we have today? Dust, wind and desert in spite of all our efforts in Jantale to curb this menace. That is why the delegates from Jantale congratulate all other delegates for being here. We must combine forces and fight desertification. We must succeed. Thank you all.
70.VOICES:(OFF MIC. VOICES OF DELEGATES FROM JANTALE). Well spoken. You spoke our collective mind.
71.ZEB:Good talk. Yes Azara, leader of the Gongoni delegates.
72.AZARA:I agree that joint efforts are needed. But what can we do in the face of nature? Drought is making our lands infertile and allowing the desert sand to take over our land. We from Gongoni have tried but are far from successful. We want to know how we can finally fight nature and succeed after this convention.
73.VOICES:(OFF MIC. MOSTLY FROM GONGONI DELEGATES). Correct. Yes. Precisely. Good talk.
74.ZEB:Wonderful talk by Azara, leader of the Gongoni delegates. (RESPONSE) Shurahi, my fellow agricultural officer, wants to make a point. Over to you, Shurahi.
75.SHURAHI:It is true that continuous drought can make land dry and unproductive (RESPONSE FROM THE DELEGATES). But it is poor management of the land that invites the desert (SILENCE). How is this done, we may ask?
76.VOICES:(OFF MIC) Yes. Tell us. How?
77.SHURAHI:Deforestation is one reason (NOISE). I will explain. When land is cleared of trees, after a few seasons, rain and wind begin to erode the soil because its protection is gone. (SILENCE). Overgrazing the land is another factor. (RESPONSE) When animals eat plants right down to the roots, the pastures are damaged.
78.VOICES:(OFF MIC). Does it mean we should no longer graze our land? How will our cattle survive? Should we then feed our cattle with sand? (GENERAL LAUGHTER)
79.VOICES:(OFF MIC) Keep your cattle on one piece of land and move them to another before the soil gets bare. Or keep them penned and bring forage to them.
80.SHURAHI:Wonderful. That was a brilliant solution from that delegate. Another delegate just asked me here how over cultivating the land can also cause desertification.
81.ZEB:When you over cultivate the land, it destroys soil structure and can lead to soil erosion.
82.VOICE:(OFF MIC) But when you don't have enough land, what can you do?
83.ZEB:To keep your land fertile, you must return organic matter to the soil. Try growing cover crops like velvet beans, sunn hemp and clover as green manure crops between your main crops. Then after harvest, dig the cover crops into the soil. Yohanna, would you like to add something on how land gets degraded and infertile?
84.SFX:GENERAL CLAPPING OF HANDS.
85.YOHANNA:Yes. Another cause of land degradation is using land for purposes for which it is not suited. Excessive use of groundwater, dropping water tables, using land for short-term profit like growing fruit and vegetables on land suited for grazing - these are all causes of desertification. There are many more, and as we break into smaller groups, we can discuss them. (APPLAUSE).
86.ZEB:Good. We shall break into small groups now. Please mix with delegates from other communities; then we will have a broad sharing of experiences from all communities. Shurahi and Yohanna will help with that.
87.MOLEKE:(IN LOW VOICE ON MIC) Shurahi?
88.SHURAHI:(ALSO LOW, ON MIC) High Chief Moleke, can I help you, Sir?
89.MOLEKE:(ON) I see Yohanna here. He is not part of the delegation from Mabudi. So what is he doing here?
90.SHURAHI:Yohanna is not attending the summit as a Mabudi representative, but as a consultant to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forests and the Environment.
91.MOLEKE:(UPSET) The Mabudi delegation will never accept that. Look - Yohanna must leave now!
92.SHURAHI:(BEGGING) Sir, I cannot ask someone to leave who the organizers have hired to advise them on methods to protect the forest.
93.MOLEKE:This is unacceptable to us.
94.SFX:HURRIED FOOTSTEPS GOING OFF.
95.ZEB:(NOISE) Before we start the small group process, let us take a few minutes to listen again to Yohanna briefly explain his personal experience of desertification. (NOISE SUBSIDES).
96.YOHANNA:Thank you, co-ordinator and delegates. The sounds and colours of the forest are very crucial to life. They provide shelter to all kinds of animals and birds, and they give wood for fuel, furniture and buildings. The forest helps to provide clean air and serves as a barrier against the desert wind. (APPLAUSE). From my personal experience, when forests are cleared, the land is degraded in just a few years. (RESPONSE - SOME POSITIVE SOUNDS, SOME NEGATIVE MUTTERINGS). The profuse growth of forest vegetation fools people into thinking the soil must be rich enough to support farming for as long as the farmers want to work on it. But the fact is this: the topsoil in the forest is thin and very fragile. Without the cover of the trees, fallen leaves and shrubs, it will dry out very quickly. All that will remain is dusty cracked land that is good for nothing.
97.ABAH:(OFF MIC BUT IN A LOUD TONE) Point of order. Point of order.
98.ZEB:Yes, Chief Abah.
99.ABAH:As the King and leader of the Mabudi delegation, I don't approve of Yohanna's presence. I will lead my delegates out of this summit if Yohanna stays.
100.ZEB:Sir, Yohanna is actually here as a consultant to the State Ministry of Agriculture, and...
101.ABAH:Consultant or no consultant, either he leaves or the entire Mabudi delegation leaves. What kind of rubbish was he saying about the Mabudi progressive farmers? (NOISE ESPECIALLY FROM THE ABAH GROUP).
102.ZEB:(AFTER A WHILE). Can we have some quiet while we settle this matter amicably please?
103.YOHANNA:I offer to leave if it will help put the summit back on track. I have said almost all I had to say. Let others stay and suggest solutions to the problems.
104.SFX:FOOTSTEPS AS YOHANNA LEAVES.
105.ZEB:Can we settle down now please? Yes, Azara.
106.AZARA:Let us think of solutions that we will all agree to uphold.
107.ZEB:Good. Yes, Koi-koi.
108.KOI-KOI:I think from now on, no community should clear or burn any forest or trees.
109.VOICES:Yes - Yes - Yes.
110.ZEB:Yes, Moleke wants to talk. Let's listen to him.
111.MOLEKE:This summit cannot decide for individual communities. We from Mabudi do not agree with what that fool of a Yohanna said about forests. We shall not, I repeat, we shall not be signatories to such a convention.
112.ABAH:(OFF MIC TO HIS DELEGATES) In fact, this is a waste of our precious time and a load of rubbish. Let us get out of here. I am tired of listening to this garbage.
113.SFX:COMMOTION. DRAGGING OF CHAIRS. HURRIED FOOTSTEPS AS MABUDI DELEGATES WALK OUT.
114.SHURAHI:(OFF MIC) Oh my God, what will become of this noble venture now?
115.KOI-KOI:(OFF MIC) The rest of us are interested in seeking solutions. I say let's carry on.
116.ZEB:I don't know why THE ABAH and his Mabudi delegates do not agree with the positive steps we are taking.
117.AZARA:(OFF MIC) We should go on and list all the available strategies. We can work with any delegates who have reservations until we reach a consensus.
118.ZEB:(OFF MIC) That is better than doing nothing. (ON MIC) Let all groups write down their action plans for consideration by the general assembly.
119.SHURAHI:I thank your majesties, elders and distinguished ladies and gentlemen for your patience. Now let us please complete our work.
120.MUSIC:THEME MUSIC UP AND UNDER...
121.NARRATOR:In spite of the behaviour of Moleke and the Mabudi team, the majority of the delegates look determined to achieve the purpose for which the convention was planned. There is always hope when people unite to take actions for the good of all, and when they base their decisions on the age-old principle that when you take enough for today's needs, you must put something back against tomorrow's needs. That some people act as if this wisdom is obsolete does not make it so. Enough said. Let's wait and see how Mabudi reaps whirlwinds, having sown trouble, confrontation and stubbornness.
122.MUSIC:THEME MUSIC UP, HOLD AND FADE UNDER CLOSING ANNOUNCEMENTS

The End

Script written by Sam Kafewo, ARDA

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